Barnstable School Supt. Dr. Patricia Grenier called the Patriot last Friday afternoon to clarify what she said and what she knew about the trip planned by the high school band director, and payment for the bus that brought the students to an Oct. 30 rally in Quincy.

It’s fair to say that she was disappointed in how she was portrayed in our Nov. 19 story on that topic.

An e-mail informing her that the band boosters would not pay a $1,100 bill to cover bus service to and from the event never reached her. She said that after a conversation with the Booster trustees, it became clear that an incorrect e-mail address was used in two attempts to contact Grenier.

When the Patriot spoke with Grenier on Nov. 18, she was just learning of the details regarding the trip's funding, and was not in a position to comment further.

Speaking after the story was published, Grenier said that people could have perceived her as being less than candid in her responses. It was not our intent to portray her in a manner that could have led to such a conclusion.

Grenier and members of the band community have also expressed concern about the continued use of “band” in headlines and stories to describe the rally. Their point is that the band itself, made up of Barnstable High School students, made no decisions or arrangements with respect to getting booked for what turned out to be a political rally. Those were the decisions and actions of the adults in charge of the band program and within the school administration.

We respect that and will bear that in mind should the need to report on the trip and its details again become necessary.

Grenier said that she met with the band to apologize and let them know that they did nothing wrong. Personal responsibility and core values are topics that helped Grenier land her position in Barnstable five years ago.

The core values are printed at the top of every school committee agenda, one of which reads, “Integrity and personal responsibility are the hallmarks of our daily interactions.”

Those are good words, and worthy of the community at large, not just those within the public school system.

It needs to be remembered that even with high ideals, individuals will stray.

The fight at the end of Monday night’s annual Powder Puff Football game between senior and junior class girls is a recent example. It was an unfortunate end to what should be the culmination of Spirit Week. But it’s also not the end of the world. Such things have happened in the past and will happen again in the future. We trust that students identified as acting inappropriately will have been dealt with by the school administration.

We also trust that those from the school community – several teachers and parents – who asked us not to report that it happened understand that more good is likely to come from acknowledging that tempers flared, fists were thrown and order was restored than by ignoring it.

DS II

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